A large sewage spill created a big mess and spread throughout the upper part of the East Branch of the Harbor around Czescik Marina and the nearby city wastewater treatment plant in Stamford, Conn. on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. The spill appears too large to contain and when the tide turns, the floating, stinking mounds of effluent will be swept into the Sound. less

A large sewage spill created a big mess and spread throughout the upper part of the East Branch of the Harbor around Czescik Marina and the nearby city wastewater treatment plant in Stamford, Conn. on Friday, ... more

A large sewage spill created a big mess and spread throughout the upper part of the East Branch of the Harbor around Czescik Marina and the nearby city wastewater treatment plant in Stamford, Conn. on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. The spill appears too large to contain and when the tide turns, the floating, stinking mounds of effluent will be swept into the Sound. less

A large sewage spill created a big mess and spread throughout the upper part of the East Branch of the Harbor around Czescik Marina and the nearby city wastewater treatment plant in Stamford, Conn. on Friday, ... more

Untreated, raw sewage fouls the water in Norwalk. The spill happened on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012.

Untreated, raw sewage fouls the water in Norwalk. The spill happened on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012.

Photo: The Advocate

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Untreated, raw sewage fouls the water in Stamford. The spill happened on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012.

Untreated, raw sewage fouls the water in Stamford. The spill happened on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012.

Photo: The Advocate

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Image 6 of 9

Untreated, raw sewage fouls the water in Stamford Harbor. The spill happened on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. The spill appears too large to contain and when the tide turns the floating, stinking mounds of effluent will be swept into the Sound. less

Untreated, raw sewage fouls the water in Stamford Harbor. The spill happened on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. The spill appears too large to contain and when the tide turns the floating, stinking mounds of effluent ... more

Photo: The Advocate

Image 7 of 9

Untreated, raw sewage fouls the water in Stamford. The spill happened on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. The spill appears too large to contain and when the tide turns the floating, stinking mounds of effluent will be swept into the Sound. less

Untreated, raw sewage fouls the water in Stamford. The spill happened on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. The spill appears too large to contain and when the tide turns the floating, stinking mounds of effluent will be ... more

Photo: The Advocate

Image 8 of 9

Untreated, raw sewage fouls the water in Stamford. The spill happened on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. The spill appears too large to contain and when the tide turns the floating, stinking mounds of effluent will be swept into the Sound. less

Untreated, raw sewage fouls the water in Stamford. The spill happened on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. The spill appears too large to contain and when the tide turns the floating, stinking mounds of effluent will be ... more

Photo: The Advocate

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Large sewage spill fouls Stamford Harbor

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STAMFORD -- Fire and health department officials are trying to figure out how to deal with a large sewage spill on the East Branch of Stamford Harbor.

Health and Public Safety Director Ted Jankowski said that the Water Pollution Control Authority is taking samples of the floating materials to determine exactly what it was. Jankowski acknowledged that it appears to be sewage, and the test will probably confirm his suspicions.

Jankowski said an investigation is underway to pin down where the sewage originated and has asked police to review surveillance videos from buildings around the harbor. The city's operations department is also checking storm sewers in the area for discharges.

Jankowski said the WPCA did not report a sewage spill before the floating debris was spotted and called into authorities on Friday morning.

Jankowski, who came down to the marina to look at the mess, also said he did not know if the spill could be contained as the tide turns and begins running out of the harbor. Jankowski and health and fire officials are waiting for the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to arrive and advise them on what should be done.

According to the mayor's office, DEEP officials determined that remediation will occur through natural tidal flushing. They also advised that fishing be prohibited until Oct. 26.

Local and state officials determined the spill was not from the nearby WPCA, which has been penalized in recent months for improperly bypassing sewage into Stamford Harbor.

"It's not our spill," Plant Supervisor Bill Degnan said. "We don't know where it came from, to be quite honest. There is no odor to this, it's a foamy type material and it covered quite a bit of the harbor."

WPCA Supervising Engineer Prakash Chakravarti said the sewage is black -- indicating the matter is at least three to five days old.

"It's definitely not us," Chakravarti said. "Once the raw sewage comes into the plant, it has to go through the entire process and exits through the ultraviolet disinfection system. That is the only exit. We don't have any bypass."

The high amount of sewage in the water makes it unlikely the spill originated from a boat. One possible source for the spill could be illegal dumping from a sewage hauler who didn't want to pay to dispose of the material at the city's transfer station, Chakravarti said. Haulers have, in the past, pried open manhole covers and released their sewage into the drainage system, he said.

State DEEP spokesman Dennis Schain said staff from the department's emergency response unit was sent to Stamford Friday to assess the situation.

"Various tests and analysis make it clear that the materials in the harbor are not a result of any kind of bypass or discharge from the sewage treatment plant in Stamford," Schain said. "We are working with local officials, local staff of the WPCA in Stamford to provide technical support for their investigation to try to learn more about what appears to be sewage in the harbor area -- to determine what it is and where it comes from."

Kristin DeRosia-Banick, an environmental analyst with the Connecticut Department of Agriculture, said staff from her office will likely assist with the investigation. Regardless of the source, the sewage spill will keep Stamford's beleaguered shellfish beds closed until further notice, she said.

"After seven days, we can test for viral indicators, but we need to figure out what's going on first and see the extent of it," DeRosia-Banick said. "The beds have already been closed for several weeks now because of the problems at the plant unrelated to this."

"It is disgusting," he said. "It smells. It is unsanitary. We eat the fish out of here. It is unhealthy."

The spill was called in at about 7:30 a.m. Friday, fire Capt. John Sierra said. At that time, the floating mess was spread throughout the upper part of the East Branch of the harbor around Czescik Marina and the nearby city wastewater treatment plant. The south wind then pushed much of the effluent with some dead fish over to the city marina's east shore, Sierra said.

City Marine police Sgt. Pete Wolff said the tide was up Friday morning at 9:06, then the tide is slack for about an hour before it begins going out. An expected wind shift may also hasten the waste's down harbor exit.

Wolff said the sewage should not stay in the harbor for long. He estimates that with a northwest wind forecast to be gusting at 25 mph Friday afternoon and an outgoing tide, the sewage should be flushed out of the harbor in a day or so.

Fire officials said at this time the spill is so large that it cannot be contained.

"There is so much stuff, it cannot be boomed," Sierra said, adding, "There is not much we can do."